Part Two

Water stains covered the ceiling over my bed at the emergency room.

One of the spots looked like an elephant standing beside a smaller one.
For some reason it comforted me..

Tabitha sat by me and held my hand. It should have felt weird having a perfect stranger hold my hand in the emergency room, but it didn't. There was something so pure about Tabitha that I felt at ease.

We had exchanged names in her old white station wagon on the way to the hospital.

When I told her my name was Rosemarie she said she had always loved that name because that was her Ma Maw's first name.

I glanced at the clanking jars in the back seat on our way to the hospital. They were set neatly in card board boxes. The jars were so pretty. They had gingham fabric under the lids of each jar. And hand made labels were pasted on the jars detailing the contents of each one.

Tabitha explained that she made homemade jellies and jams that she sold at the Farmer's Market each Saturday.

She also made homemade soaps and lotions that she sold at the local stores and over the Internet. Her soap and lotion business made it possible for her to have a comfortable living. It was hard work she said but very fulfilling.

As I was thinking back on those things a policeman came in to ask me questions about the rape. I told him I could not remember anything about the attack. But I did know my name and where I was from. He told me he would stay in touch because he had more questions.

And as I layed there bruised and bledding the lady from billing came in. She had her portable computer and wanted to know: My Name, My Address, What type of Insurance did I have?

Tabitha asked her if she could please come back after I had been examined.

But the lady had told her no, it was hospital policy to register everyone before they received treatment.

After she left the doctor finally came in 30 minutes later.He examined me and stitched my wounds and had x-rays ordered. He also swabbed me so they could find DNA evidence to find my attacker. I was admitted to the hospital for overnight observation.

Tabitha never left me.

to be continued.....

by Nita Barrow- Zimmerman

Tonight's song, Out of the Woods by Nickel Creek
2nd video, pick a clip


one of my favorite songs.. I hope you have a chance to listen..

The Journey of Rosemarie Alcott

This is the first part of a fictional story I am writing. There will be several installments.



I woke up naked in a corn field.



I didn't now how I had gotten there. I was laying on my right side and every part of my body hurt

The first thing I saw was a line of ants carrying food back to their ant hill. They walked one by one in perfect order. Not distracted by anything on their journey to home. It felt so strange to be laying there dazed and disoriented watching ants.

I looked down at my body. I had bite marks everywhere. Dried blood covered my legs.

A mixture of dirt and blood was in my mouth and I spit several times trying to rid my mouth of the mix.

I couldn't remember anything. How had I gotten there? My brain was racing trying to remember anything. I made it to my knees and vomited.
I stood up on legs so shaky, that looking back on it now, I didn't know how I could even have walked after what happened to me.

My clothes lay scattered in the field and as I bent down to pick each piece up I felt so dizzy that I thought I would pass out. I pulled my torn jeans over my blood soaked legs and I somehow got my shirt put on. It was torn almost completely in two. I held it together as I looked for my shoes. They were nowhere to be found.

I began to scan the horizon for a house. For anywhere I could go to for help. It was at that point I began to cry. It came like a water fall. I couldn't stop it. Who had raped me and thrown me out in a field like a piece of garbage? How could anyone do something like this to another human being?

My heart began to beat fast and I felt very frightened at that moment. What if they came back? I hurried to the road. Tripping several times over the stubs of the left over corn stalks.

The first house I saw was a yellow farmhouse. It had red geraniums planted in huge stone planters on the front porch, and a glass jar filled with sun tea sat on a bench beside the geraniums.

I knocked on the door as loud as I could. And a woman in a white apron answered the door.

"Can I ...Oh my God" She started crying. " Please come in. Oh my God honey what happened to you?" She lead me to a chair and had me sit down.

"I don't know. I woke up in the cornfield naked and I can't remember what happened.. Can you please help me get to a hospital?" I started crying again. And the lady whom I had never met put her arms around me like I was baby and cried with me.

" Honey, I will take you to the hospital and we will find out who did this to you."

And I believed her.

Nita Barrow- Zimmerman

Today's song, Broken by Evanescence
2nd video

We only have today. We do not have tomorrow because it is not yet here.
We have this moment. We don't know what is going to happen to us. So today we need to enjoy our meals. Enjoy each other's company. Mend fences within our family, if possible.

Go for a drive instead of watching TV all day. Go outside and feel the breeze on our face. Say thanks to God for all He has given to us. And thank Him for all He has not allowed to happen to us.

Life is so short..See the beautiful, try hard to find the lesson in the pain.

xoxo Nita

Today's song, Sweet Pea by Amos Lee
1st video, pick a clip

I hope you have time to listen to this ;0)

Emily Booth

When I am dead, my dearest
Sing no sad songs for me;
Plant thou no roses at my head,
Nor shady Cypress tree;
Be the green grass above me
With showers and dewdrops wet;
And if thou wilt, forget.

I shall not see the shadows,
I shall not feel the rain;
I shall not hear the Nightingale
Sing on, as if in pain;
And dreaming through the twilight'
Thou doth not rise nor set,
Haply I may remember,
And haply may forget.

Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)


I saw her sitting on the steps of her front porch as I passed by on my way home. Even after all these years she was still beautiful. Her long honey blond hair sweeping over her shoulders. But sadness seemed to weigh her pretty face down.

She saw me and waved at me. Her eyes beseeching me to come back..

I turned the car around and headed back. Not really knowing why. I could have pretended not to see her. And I was bone tired, I really didn't want to turn around. But something propelled me to.

Normally, I took the other way home because it was a much shorter route. But it being Spring , I had wanted to take the long way home. I wanted to enjoy the scenery.

I hadn't talked to Emily for a long time, and my heart felt sad about that. We had slipped apart like some friends do by years and circumstance.

But we always seemed to pick up where we left off. To me , that is always the mark of a true friend.

I thought to myself when I pulled in her driveway, " What are a few moments for an old friend?"

I noticed Robert's red jeep was gone from its customary spot. Robert was Emily's husband. I had never liked Robert. He had a huge ego and he had always been very controlling with Emily. Hardly letting her out of his sight over the years. Come to think about it, he was the biggest reason we hadn't seen each other more over the years.

Emily rushed to my window, strangely pale. She had always had olive toned skin. But her skin now was white as snow.

"Lily, I am so happy to see you. Do you have time for a cup of coffee? I really need someone to talk to." Her chocolate brown eyes peered into mine imploringly.

How could I refuse those eyes? Unusually vacant as they were right now, but still as beautiful as ever.

" Sure Emily, we need to catch up on stuff anyhow." I smiled at her and got out of my car.

As we were walking up her steps I asked her where Robert was. I noticed her stiffen immediately.

"He is gone right now. He won't be back for awhile.. He let his brother borrow his jeep for the weekend." She flashed a haunted look at me. And I felt scared. I didn't know why but I did.

I didn't press the issue but instead asked her how her weaving class was going. Emily had taught weaving classes at the local museum for years and some of her pieces had even been featured in some large Art Magazines.

" I haven't taught weaving classes for about a year now. Robert had came to my class one night drunk and raised such a fuss about it that I couldn't bear to go back. It was humiliating."

My heart went out to Emily. I knew Robert had been controlling, but I didn't know he had gotten that bad.

As I sat at Emily's old oak table I ran my hand over the smooth surface of it. I thought back on the Summer we had made it. We had taken an antique door out of a house my Dad was tearing down. We had sanded it, varnished it , and used antique porch posts for legs. I had wanted to surprise her and make it for her wedding present. But, she had found out and insisted on helping me with the project. We had so much fun making that table that we had thought about making furniture as a business. But Robert had put a halt to that dream.

Emily put the coffee down in front of me and I took a sip of it. It was strangely cold and tasted very bitter. I noticed she wasn't drinking any. I put the cup down.

She took the seat across from me and stared out the window. I nervously ran my hand on the rim of the cup.

"Emily, what is wrong?" I asked gently.

"Robert usually comes home about this time." She said absent minded.

" I decided to divorce him Lily. I finally got the courage to do it. Then he killed me. But the funny thing is that he tripped over the shovel he used to bury me with in the basement and broke his neck. He is laying at the bottom of the basement stairs." She said this so calmly I thought she was joking. Then everything started adding up.

Her hand as she touched mine when she handed me the coffee. It had been ice cold. Her pale skin..

I was so shocked and scared that I could barely move.

"I knew you would stop Lily. I need you to tell my Mother what happened and the authorities. Call anonymously if you have to, but they need to know. I need a proper burial."

Then she was gone. I ran to the door and opened it. I raced to my car almost falling twice.

I called anonymously from a pay phone about Emily and Robert. I then went home and just soaked in what had just happened to me.

The next morning it was splashed across the front page.

Emily received a proper burial, and I wrote her Mother a letter explaining what had happened, just as Emily had wanted me to. I mailed it from another town late at night. I didn't want to get caught mailing a letter like that. Who would understand? Most people don't believe in Ghosts. But I had made a promise and I kept it.

Nita Barrow-Zimmerman

We Have Winners...

Instead of 1 winner I decided to have 4.

Elizabeth has drawn the names..

They are Smiley Girl, Laurie from California, Doolallysally, Amy from Abundant Curiosities...

Please e-mail me your addresses and I will get your packages in the mail this week.

Also please measure your wrists with a cloth tape measure and e-mail me your wrist size. And please e-mail me your favorite colors.



xoxo Nita